Author & Futurist

Comedians = Entrepreneurs

HBO released a great chat forum with terrific comedians called ‘Talking Funny’. It features the rock star line up of Jerry Seinfeld, Louis CK, Chris Rock and Ricky Gervais. It is incredibly entertaining and funny, but that’s not why I am posting about it. I’m posting about it because it has within it some are some timeless messages for entrepreneurs.

These comedians manage to disagree on pretty much everything they discuss. What it takes to be successful, who they are doing it for (themselves or the the audience) and whether or not swearing is a good or bad thing while delivering their product. It’s clear that they’ve all carved very different paths that lead to their ultimate success, but they all arrived regardless. While they can all agree they need to be able to ‘sell tickets’ to be successful, the methods they embrace differ greatly. It’s another superb reminder for startups that there is more than one way to do it. We can all do it at different life stages too. Jerry started young, while Ricky started late. I also appreciated how honest and human their assessments of life are in this session – all wearing their superstitions and worries on their sleeve.

It’s clear that no matter what we do, our job is to listen to and share as many ideas as possible, and find a shtick that works for us. Enjoy the lessons and the laughs.